[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]* In "Homer's Enemy", Frank Grimes is appalled that Homer is lazy yet successful and starts to hate him, yet what he doesn't realize is that you don't have to work hard to be a good and successful person, you just have to have a big heart and be surrounded by the people you love and good friends.** Here's another curiosity. Many tend to believe that Frank Grimes was the OnlySaneMan and Homer got everything in life with ease, right? If we mean a point of view, Homer and Frank are NotSoDifferent: Homer is often a jerk, but also had a tough childhood (his mother was absent most of his life, his father an alcoholic and verbally abusive) and Frank often acted as an intolerant and short-tempered jerk to Homer, but also had a tough childhood. It may sound strange, but both are very similar, the only difference is that they only have different lifestyles and different personalities. No ''wonder'' they didn't get along.* In the first 20 seasons, Jimbo Jones had a full head of hair, shown in some episodes such as ''Bart of Darkness'', ''Poppa's Got A Brand New Badge'' and ''Lisa the Drama Queen''. In several recent episodes such as ''Moms I'd Like To Forget'', ''The Great Simpsina'' and ''Beware My Cheating Bart'', he's bald on top when he takes his hat off. Either he's recently going bald or wearing a wool cap for 20 years pretty much caused it.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'', there's an early scene where, as the Simpsons family is piling out of the car to go to church, Homer is audibly arguing as to why he'd should be there. One of the last lines he says is "Those pious morons worshiping their phony-baloney God" as they walk through the front door with predictable results. One might argue that this is a standard Jerkass Homer's forced TakeThat against Christianity, but, in the Season 12 episode "HOMR", while after having a crayon removed from his brain that drastically increased his I.Q., [[ItMakesSenseInContext he was working on a flat tax proposal when he accidentally discovered airtight evidence against the existence of God and casually rubbed it in the face of Flanders.]] Granted, at the end of the episode, [[StatusQuoIsGod he had an operation to shove another crayon up his nose to restore his intelligence to its previous level]], barely remembering that he wrote [[spoiler:an apology letter to Lisa immediately afterward,]] but wouldn't it make sense that he'd remember what he thought was probably the greatest "Screw You, Flanders!" moment in his life that he had printed evidence to back up with when he wanted to use it as an excuse?** Mind you God actually exists in the Simpsons universe and Homer is friends with him. So it's also a function of NegativeContinuity.* In the Thanksgiving episode from the second season Homer mixes up Patty and Selma's names. This isn't EarlyInstallmentWeirdness; Homer's admitted in a few episodes he can't tell the two apart in addition to not caring for them.* In first episode of 23th season, Homer tells Wayne that he has visions of a terrible future where robots took their jobs, and Homer says that robot understands him. In 17th episode of the same season Mr.Burns replaces his employees with robots, keeping only Homer. Homer tries to be friends with robots, and even thinks them as friends, meaning that Homer's vision was at least partly right.* In ''Half-Decent Proposal'', Artie Ziff pays many Springfieldianites money to relive his high school prom. Among the attendees are Kirk and Luann Van Houten--together. At first it seems illogical considering their divorce, until one remembers they are being paid to relive the past, so they're getting paid to tolerate each other.* In "Krusty Gets Busted" from the first season, we learn that Krusty had an on the air heart attack. We later learn that Krusty is a chronic smoker, drinker and has a generally unhealthy lifestyle. ''No wonder'' he had a heart attack.** When Krusty had his on the air heart attack, he was cooking ham and bacon on a grill and we later learn his company endorses a large amount of pork related products. In addition to being an entertainer, Rabbi Krustofski probably resented Krusty even moreso for endorsing pork products, which are ([[AsYouKnow as, of course, we know]]) treif (non-kosher) foods.* Mr. Burns used to forget Homer's name constantly in the early seasons, and he finally got it right in the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-parter. Homer was a suspect in the shooting; since then, because of the circumstances and how crazy the situation was, Mr. Burns knows Homer's name no problem.* Nelson's talked about huckleberry picking in a couple of later episodes. When the boys were in Branson, Missouri in season seven Nelson wanted to see Andy Williams and was excited to hear Moon River. This song contains a line involving two friends picking huckleberries in their youth. Probably unintended on the writer's part and was supposed to be an OutOfCharacter moment, but the whole thing is made funnier and explains why Nelson likes the song so much.* Many people say that Homer has become dumber and dumber over the years. A slow descent at first, but eventually reaching the point where the only rule was "Homer cannot forget his own name." The brilliance is that in season 4 Homer received a coronary bypass graft. 51% of patients who have a bypass graft suffer severe brain damage as the years pass. The cure we all saw him get... is the cure that made him so very, very dumb.** Later that season he ends up in a coma (on the very first ClipShow episode "So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show") and is even told he suffered some brain damage.** Not to mention the sheer amount of head damage Homer takes.*** However, he still becomes smarter when a crayon is removed from his brain in ''HOMR''.*** Perhaps the crayon is responsible for his initially average intelligence, and the head trauma just escalated into [[TooDumbToLive smrt levels.]] Homer could've been a ''genius'' had he never stuck that crayon up his nose.*** In the same episode, after Homer becomes intelligent, he asks Lisa if the capital of North Dakota is Bismarck, to which she nods approvingly. Previously, in Season 2's "Simpson and Delilah," he thought that the capital of North Dakota was "Hitler."* In another Simpsons episode, "Treehouse of Horror XIII", in the second part, one of the zombies is the "most evil German": Kaiser Wilhelm. The joke is, of course, they don't say Hitler. Why? Because ''Hitler was actually Austrian'' (even though German is the official language of Austria as well as Germany and some parts of Switzerland, which makes the line from "Cape Feare" "No one who speaks German could be an evil man," funnier when you think about it).** That and Hitler's shown to be alive (in the Simpson world) in the episode where Bart calls Australia and the beginning of the episode where Bart and his friends become a boy band (it was the part where Homer is watching a "Great Moments in Olympic History" documentary and when it cut to Bob Beamon's long-jump at the 1968 Olympics, it showed an elderly Hitler in the audience).*** This also counts as FridgeHorror, considering that Hitler of all people [[KarmaHoudini is living a peaceful life.]]*** Also Kaiser Wilhelm being called the most evil German has some context: while he didn't start World War 1, he is a major scapegoat for the escalation of it for reasons legit and exaggeration alike. As World War 1 led to World War 2, he is, to some extent, responsible for the war that contributed to Hitler's rise to power.* The episode "The Great Wife Hope" features yet another attempt by Marge to stop everyone's fun. Nelson inadvertently gives her great advice on how to get together other pissy moms, clergymen, etc. He claims this is because he secretly enjoys event planning, but the ''real'' more subtle joke is that what Marge wants to do is essentially bullying.* In the episode where Homer is escaping the plant and he's attacked by a GiantSpider, he's told that the spider will be defeated if he says a Bible verse. Of course, he can't remember any (despite that he should have remembered some from either the season 2 episode where Homer steals cable and Lisa worries for her father's soul or the season four episode where Homer decides to make skipping church on Sunday a religion), so he simply kills the spider by throwing a rock at it. The FridgeBrilliance comes in when you realize that [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Homer just killed a gigantic enemy by throwing a small rock and hitting it between the eyes]].* Early in TheSimpsons, Lenny is seen living in a furniture-less, run down house, however later on, he's shown to have a very expensive and clean home with art pieces everywhere, there doesn't seem to be a reason for the change, until you remember that Mr. Burns bought the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant from him when he was briefly put in charge...** Alternate interpretation: Remember "Marge on the Lam" when Lenny was seen shaving the legs of some woman who told him to "shave up, not down, you idiot!"? That could have been his wife, and the furniture-less, run-down house he lived in in "Realty Bites" (season nine) was the result of a divorce that may have happened off-screen, in which the woman he shaved her legs for took everything he had. Lenny living in a nice apartment on "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" (which came on during the 17th) could have been the end result of Lenny regaining the money he lost in the divorce.** There's also the fact that there was a time when Lenny lived in an extremely loud house where the neighboring room is a sports center. During that period of time, he was penny-pinching his housing arrangements.* In a Christmas episode about the Nativity, ''Jesus'' is portrayed by Bart. It may seem offensive at first, but think about it: Jesus ''was'' seen as a trouble maker by the Pharisees and the Romans, and they thought that his messages might start riots.** Bart is also, through most fans eyes, one of the more moral characters due to the fact that most of his antics are harmless pranks, while others do malicious things** Also remember in "Simpsons Bible Stories" Bart was King David, Jesus was a direct descendant of David.* In ''Simpsons Bible Stories'', when Lisa/Israelite tells Milhouse/Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go, Milhouse/Moses says "Oh, so now they're my people." There is a theory, albeit a minor one, that Moses was actually ethnically Egyptian.* In "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken", Homer and his friends wreck up the school on a joyride and the damages are blamed on rowdy kids, thus causing a curfew to be placed. This was all gone in the next episode. This may have been NegativeContinuity, but the 500th episode (''At Long Last Leave'') had Mayor Quimby illustrate Springfield's hatred of the whole family by showing [[CallBack a photo of Homer wrecking the school]]. So they must have found out the ''real'' cause and lifted the curfew, although these episodes were about 13 years apart. The only problem is that Lenny, Carl, and Barney [[FridgeLogic aren't present in the photo]]?** Homer wrecked the school again, this time alone.* [[FridgeBrilliance Almost Fridge Brilliance]]: The backstory to Skinner/Tamzarian in "The Principle and the Pauper" is almost completely consistent with his background in "The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase", except for the switch of his home city, New Orleans vs. Capital City. And [[SeparateSimpsonsGeographyThing they can't be one and the same]], since New Orleans is not the capital of any state (Louisiana's capital is Baton Rouge).* When Bart is asked to name the pirate on ''Treasure Island'' one of the answers that pop in his head is Long John Silver which is actually correct plus that imagination that he had where he was held back in the fourth grade where his son told him that the name of the pirate is Long John Silver. So Bart has ''actually'' read the book, he just doesn't remember the name!* In "The Front" there is an ''Itchy & Scratchy'' cartoon where Itchy removes Scratchy's fur and he steals his fur back, where after he's beaten by [[FurAndLoathing anti-fur protesters]] (despite it being his own fur). At first I thought it was an in-universe TakeThat, but now I know [[SoapboxSadie Lisa]] [[AuthorTract co-wrote it]] (with Bart).** Maybe if one watched the later episodes (in which Lisa has become an animal-loving SoapboxSadie) followed by the early ones (in which Lisa did speak out against society's ills, but, was, at her core, an eight-year-old girl who liked Malibu Stacy dolls and cartoons). It wouldn't make sense if it was the other way around.* Fans of the show often remark on the [[LookalikeLovers disturbing similarity]] of Milhouse's parents -- in one late-season episode, Milhouse himself [[LampshadeHanging speculates]] that they are [[BrotherSisterIncest brother and sister]]. However, the episode "Lemon of Troy" shows that major characters in Springfield have doppelgangers in Shelbyville, sometimes (as in the case of Groundskeeper Willy) of the opposite gender. In the same episode, Luanne mentions that she was born in Shelbyville. Clearly Kirk married his Shelbyville counterpart! ** No wonder they don't get along!** Hang on a minute though, because as "Lemon of Troy" shows, Milhouse has a Shelbyville counterpart too! So for this theory to work, that means there must be ''four'' parental doppelgängers, each of whom married an opposite gender counterpart from the other city. (Possibly involving cousins?)* Bart's line in one episode about not wearing a blue shirt becomes a lot funnier if you know that a lot of Simpsons merchandise from the early 1990s has Bart inexplicably wearing a blue shirt.* At the end of the Treehouse of Horror story "Desperately Xeeking Xena" Lucy Lawless flies Bart and Lisa to safety. When they say "Xena can't fly" she responds "I'm Lucy Lawless." Earlier in the segment Lucy tells her fans anytime there's a continuity error or something doesn't make sense, AWizardDidIt. This could be seen as why she flies away.** No, it's because she's [[MeaningfulName Lawless]], so she doesn't obey the [[IncrediblyLamePun laws]] of physics.*** I think it's more that The Simpsons frequently like to portray minor celebrities as super-human, like Bette Midler and Johnny Carson in "Krusty Gets Kancelled" being as fast a car and having super strength, respectively. The joke was that Xena has superpowers, but flying isn't one of them, however the actress who plays her can fly.* In the "Seven Beer Snitch" Snowball II is seen sneaking off to a different family who feeds her and they call her Smokey. This is Snowball V, not Snowball II who was killed in the previous season. Snowball V/Smokey was more than likely the other family's pet but wandered off, thus making her double life more believable.** She was the Crazy Cat Lady's cat first. *** It's possible that cat was with the other family before the Crazy Cat Lady got ahold of her.* In Treehouse of Horror XVII, Dolph the bully knows what the Golem is before it attacks him because it's been established in a few latter-day episodes that Dolph is Jewish (he goes to Hebrew school and had his bar mitzvah).* In "The Way We Was," Homer joins the debate team. Shortly thereafter, he gives a seemingly ridiculous argument against lowering the speed limit, claiming that millions of people being late justifies the deaths of a few people. Although the point goes unexplained beyond typical Homer babble (and ends with Homer mooning his opponent), there are at least two schools of thought that give serious credence to his claim: utilitarianism (specifically Bentham "pleasure-over-pain" utilitarianism) and economic efficiency. Either of these arguments would hold up in a round of Lincoln-Douglas debate. (This could also be StrawManHasAPoint or GeniusBonus instead of Fridge Brilliance, but it's the sort of thing you don't notice until many years after watching it for the first time.)* In "Holidays of Future Passed," Milhouse and Lisa have a daughter Zia together. Milhouse says that they used the best genetic material when she was born, which meant none of his. This could explain why Zia uses her mother's last name instead of her father's.* It is technically possible to set a watch to the length of Johnny Unitas' hair ("Mother Simpson"), but one would have to measure it very accurately.* In the sixth episode of The Simpsons' [[GoldenAge fourth season]] Homer forbids Bart from watching the Itchy and Scratchy Movie so that he can learn discipline and grow up to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. At the end of the episode we see a FlashForward to a grown Bart walking with an elderly Homer having achieved this goal. Two years later in the 19th episode of The Simpsons' sixth season we see another flash forward episode where Lisa is in college and about to get married. Bart is shown holding a job demolishing buildings, but mentions that once he works the rage out of his system he will attend law school. Finally in the 17th episode of the eleventh season we go Bart to the Future to where Lisa has become President of the United States and Bart helps get her out of a major debt crisis. The two future episodes actually '''confirm''' the coda flash forward way back in season four as Bart goes to law school and is ultimately appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by Lisa as thanks for his assistance. * In "Bart's Comet" after Homer makes Flanders leave the fallout shelter, everyone carries on casually. Homer eventually comes to his senses and says he's disgusted by everyone, especially Rodd and Todd. It may sound like Homer ripping on the Flanders', but Homer was really disgusted that when Flanders told Todd to shoot daddy if he tried to return, he agreed. It shows that while he's jealous and he can be a jerk towards Flanders, Homer doesn't want Flanders to be harmed.** Um, no. Homer practically shoved Ned out of the shelter, saying the world wouldn't need him or left handed stores. Rod and Todd looked at Homer sadly, with Homer apologizing... then ranting on about how unneeded Ned is. THEN, after the town argues and hears Ned alone on the hill, Homer goes on about how selfless Ned is and expresses disgust at Ned's children. While Todd did agree to shoot Ned if he had to, he was tearful about it. The obvious joke is that Homer is a massive hypocrite.* In "Springfield Up" citizens of Springfield are being interviewed about Homer and Ralph says "he may not be perfect, but he's my dad!" It seems like typical Ralph stupidity but WordOfGod states that Ralph was envisioned as a mini Homer, thus adding a new layer to the joke.* WordOfGod stated that Bart picked up his [[CatchPhrase catchphrases]] like "Eat my shorts" and "Don't have a cow man" from TV and other places. In the season five episode "Bart Gets Famous," Bart becomes well known for saying "I didn't do it." Krusty used this phrase in season one's "Krusty's Get Busted" and Bart may have just remembered it and used it himself.* What could possibly be the best StealthPun ever comes from "Make Room for Lisa":--> "I'm so sick of people hiding behind the Bill of Rights!"** The security guards were about to brutalize Homer. Even if Homer wasn't holding the physical copy of the manuscript, the Bill of Rights does guarantee that the guards can't brutalize him (though they were about to when Homer licked off the Eighth Amendment [the one that forbids cruel and unusual punishment]).* In "Fear of Flying" as a prank Lenny puts a snake in the cash register at Moe, which pops out and bites him. Moe shows no ill effects after being bitten. In two unrelated episodes, "Homer the Heretic" and "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe" it's established Moe's a snake handler, thus it doesn't bother him.* In "Homer the Great" Homer has a revenge list, which includes the Bill of Rights. Homer would get his wish four seasons later in "Make Room for Lisa" when he accidentally destroys it at the Smithsonian exhibit.* In early episodes such as "Krusty Gets Busted" and "Krusty Gets Canceled" Krusty lives in an apartment, but in "Bart the Fink" he lives in a mansion. In "A Star Is Burns" Krusty is on the film festival jury, and mentions the film moved him... to a bigger house. Mr. Burns' bribing him into voting "Burns for All Seasons" as the best movie is the reason he no longer lives in an apartment.* The episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is a parody of Music/TheBeatles, and includes many tributes. A subtle joke is the rodent invasion of the 60s, referring to the British Invasion of which the Fab Four were a part, with the Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks parody Melvin and the Squirrels. ** The gag lampshading that Homer never told his kids about his fame prior to this episode seems a jab at NegativeContinuity, however John Lennon had stated he actually tried to keep his Beatles fame unknown from his son so he could raise him normally, until he came across ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'', just as the Simpson kids were sheltered from Homer's fame until they came across a copy of his record.* In "Homer at the Bat" Mr. Burns laughs maniacally at the idea of "nine misfortunes" to his all-star softball ringers, as there's only an "outside chance" of seven misfortunes. And he's right: there ''are'' only seven misfortunes. Obviously nothing happens to Darryl Strawberry and he plays the game as expected. But nothing happens to Don Mattingly either; he turns up to the game but is sent away by Mr. Burns solely due to the latter's misunderstanding of what sideburns are. ** With Don Mattingly getting sent home over his sideburns, that makes ''eight'' misfortunes. What's number nine? Homer getting beaned unconscious during his last turn at the bat. Granted that won them the game, but to Homer it definitely qualifies. ** When Homer asks Darryl Strawberry if he's better than him and he answers "I don't know you... but yes" his answer may sound arrogant but it makes perffect sense. Anyone better than him would be an all-star MLB player and Strawberry would have heard of him years ago!* Bart was right when he said "Lisa's got a boyfriend, that she'll never see again" in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie''. Other than the altered opening sequence in the 19th season premiere, Colin is never seen again onscreen after TheMovie.* "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" confirms that Fat Tony is, in fact, a widower. By "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony", however, Selma (his current wife) discovers Tony is actually still married to someone else she didn't know about. Remembering the former episode, you might think Tony probably just remarried after his wife's death. But now take into consideration the "real" Fat Tony had been killed in "Donnie Fatso", and the Fat Tony we currently know is just 'Fit Tony', his overweight cousin. Does that never-before-mentioned marriage make more sense? * In "Moonshine River" Bart visits old girlfriends who he burned his bridges with, just to get rejected again. He visits Gina, the girl he knew from juvenile hall just to get punched in the face. This might seem weird considering the ending of that episode, but if you consider how much time has passed between that episode and this one (the former aired in 2004, this one aired in 2012)... She's not punching him in the face because they had a falling out, she's mad because it's the first time in nearly ten seasons he paid her a visit.* In a lot of episodes when Duffman isn't performing he's called different names like Larry or Sid. It's later established that different actors play Duffman, so it's not the same guy we see each time.* It's been established that Waylon Smithers is gay. Before he learned how his father really died, Mr. Burns told him his dad was killed by a pack of Amazonian women. This could be a FreudianExcuse on why he doesn't like women. * In a couple episodes Itchy and Scratchy are seen on "Springfield Squares" and a Channel 6 ad with other InUniverse celebrities like they're actual living creatures. In RealLife animated characters are added into TV shows like [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Brian and Stewie]] at the Emmy's, so this was the case as well.* Homer being {{Acrofatic}} in episodes like "Whacking Day" and "Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes" makes more sense when you remember a flashback to high school when he did gymnastics.* Invoked by Bart, Lisa, and Homer in the episode "The Color Yellow." When they find out they had a black ancestor [[CrowningMomentOfFunny we get these realizations:]]--->'''Bart:''' So that's why I'm so cool.--->'''Lisa:''' And that's my jazz is so smooth.--->'''Homer:''' And that's why I earn less than my white coworkers!* In "Saturdays of Thunder" Patty and Selma get their hair done, and Patty gets her hair dyed brown and Selma gets her hair dyed blonde. In "The Blue and the Grey" it turns out those are their natural hair colors, but they appear grey because of all the smoke and ash from their cigarettes. They simply had their hair washed before it was styled.** That would also mean that they had never, ever, washed their hair before then.** Or they smoke so much that any and all effects of washing are cancelled out immediately.* Ever notice how around the time they get divorced, Milhouse's father Kirk is a broke deadbeat? In "Radioactive Man" as soon as they find out Milhouse is a star they buy a lot of things they can't afford like a jacuzzi suit and a big screen TV, and since the movie failed they couldn't afford any of the stuff.** And when the Van Houtens reconcile in Milhouse of Sand and Fog, they let it slip that Milhouse was responsible for their first divorce. It's not just a one-off gag about emotionally abusive parents: the financial stress brought about by Milhouse's failed film career was the straw that broke the camel's back for Kirk and Luann.* In "Bart Sells His Soul" he says the soul is something made up to scare kids like the Boogie Man or Music/MichaelJackson. There was an entire episode devoted to Music/MichaelJackson but since it was an impostor, Bart must think he's not real after all.* In ''Treehouse of Horror VI'' Homer complains about "lousy Smarch weather" in relation to a joke about both the misprinted calendars and Marge's narration about it being the [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13th hour of the 13th day of the 13th month]]. The lousy weather is shown to be wind driven snow which would be correct as the 13th month would be the following year's January on a correctly printed calendar. * The Simpsons's house is stated to be worth only $1000 in a recent episode. Keep in mind the house was rebuilt at the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'', and in the season 19 premiere there was a sign that said "Burns Construction: Building Cheaply and Charging Dearly." * Recently Barney Gumble has been an off again on again alcoholic. In ''The Simpsons Movie'' he is seen drunk a few times early on before the dome is placed over the town. When the dome is put over the town, the alcoholics at Moe's run to the church and the church goers flock to Moe's. Later in the movie Barney is seen at AA. Because he thought the end was coming, Barney probably temporarily tried to change his ways.* When we first saw Skinner's mother in the first season, she was a nice old lady and seemed to be proud of Seymour when he gave her a tour of the school. She was on the toilet when Bart flushed the cherry bomb and has been depicted as a cranky old lady since. This is a justified CharacterizationMarchesOn since the incident scarred her for life.* There's another flashfoward in an early episode that may be canon, and is supported by a gag in a future episode. At the end of "Rosebud" we see a cyborg Mr. Burns looking for his teddy bear Bobo in a futuristic world taken over by apes. In the episode "Future-Drama" there's a billboard that says give apes the vote. While "Future-Drama" is a what if scenario, "Holidays of Future Passed" seems to be canon and has elements of Future-Drama such as Bart's ex wife is his girlfriend Jenda. Going by this theory, apes were given rights and took over sometime down the road.* In "Lisa the Drama Queen" at the end Homer is inspired to write a novel and pictures the family in his own personal fantasy. He imagines Bart as a hot dog, Lisa as a starfish, Maggie as a monster truck, and Marge as a beer. In "New Kids on the Block" Homer compared women to beer when discussing sex with Bart, hence why he pictures her as one.* In "I Married Marge" when Marge goes to get an ultrasound to see if she's pregnant, Lisa wants to name the potential little brother or sister Ariel. A few seasons later in "Make Room For Lisa" it turns out Lisa's favorite movie is ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid''.* Homer wishes to live under the sea in "Homer Badman." His wish came true in "Future-Drama" in a what if scenario of the future where he has an underwater house.* Scratchy from the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons is a black cat, which are signs of bad luck. This trope is cleverly taken UpToEleven since he's the [[BornUnlucky one who always dies]] [[TheyKilledKennyAgain in every cartoon,]] as opposed to him bringing bad luck to those around him.* In the Season 13 episode "Gump Roast" the show's producers apologize for a ClipShow by musically assuring the viewer that they still have [[LongRunner "stories for years"]]. These stories include Moe getting a cell phone, [[UnwillingRoboticisation Marge becoming a robot]], [[BearsAreBadNews Bart owning a bear]] and a Crazy wedding where "something" happens[[note]]da-do-do-do-do[[/note]]. Over the next ''decade'' we actually do see Marge becoming a robot (in a daydream sequence), Moe does get a cell phone ([[LampshadeHanging and asks why people seem to care]]) and Patty has a wedding ceremony with another woman where something happens in that the woman is actually a man. While Bart has still never owned a bear, it is actually brilliant because by holding that back the show's producers indicate they have still not used up all their ideas.** It goes beyond that. Yes, there was a wedding where something happened, Patty's wedding with another woman (and then we find out that he was a man actually). But a few years later, what else do we get? Abraham Simpson and Selma end up together and get married. Remember the picture in the song: Both Bouvier sisters AND Grampa Simpson were on the picture. So, actually, that picture served for two episodes!* Ralph Wiggum is in Lisa's class, but appears in Bart's class in a few episodes. This could be a goof, but since Ralph is TooDumbToLive it's not farfetched he would appear in the wrong class from time to time.* Homer has a sleepwalking problem in "Crooks and Ladder," and ends up at a Music/JohnLennon exhibit in the wax museum. Flanders appears there, which may seem out of character, but it was established in "The Bart of War" a few seasons earlier that Flanders was a Beatles fan.* It seems a tad odd for Marge to be such a big fan of [[Music/TheBeatles Ringo Starr,]] considering most of the fangirls under the influence of Beatlemania went for either [=McCartney=] or Lennon. Then it hit me. Marge's characterisation is somewhat bland, with there being few Marge based episodes compared to Homer, Bart and Lisa. Despite this, she usually plays a large role in the episodes, and usually the episodes centered around her involve her being out of action and the family collapsing. Just like a drummer in a band, she's the more forgettable one and rarely anyone's favourite, and yet she's one of the most important characters, without her the whole family dynamic would fall apart like a band without a drummer to keep them in time.** Ringo had quite a few fans for himself, the joke about him getting the most fan mail was actually rather accurate. That being said, his leaving the band temporarily, only to be sent flowers by the rest to persuade him to come back, certainly seems similar to the "Marge leaves" episodes.** Marge also seems rather apt at telling stories to young children. Ringo was also famous at this point for narrating ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine''.* In "Moe Letter Blues" the kids are watching a silent Itchy And Scratchy cartoon that parodies Film/ATripToTheMoon. We hear Scratchy groan, which could be considered an error. It's a GenreThrowback so this error's acceptable and intentional.* In episodes prior to "Donnie Fatso" where Fat Tony [[spoiler:dies, but is replaced by his cousin Fit Tony who gains weight, thus subverting KilledOffForReal]] Fat Tony's real name is William Williams, Marion, and Tony D'Amico in various episodes. Since he's a mafia boss it makes sense he would change his name to cover his tracks. * The opening sequence of the Simpsons gives a great depiction of the more negative aspects of the main cast. Bart is an AttentionWhore who repeatedly causes trouble just to get noticed. Homer is TooDumbToLive whose stupidity is a constant danger to himself and others. Marge ParentalNeglect causes her not to notce her kids until something bad has happened. And finally if Bart is an AttentionWhore Lisa is ItsAllAboutMe. She defines herself by being better then everyone else much to the annoyance of those around her.* "Homer's Phobia": Homer is homophobic and Marge is accepting of gays. "There's Something About Marrying": Homer is the accepting one (marrying gays himself being his job of the week in this episode, even) and Marge has trouble with the idea of her sister coming out of the closet. Inconsistence? No! Patty's dialogue even explains it: Marge is okay with gays as long as they are outsiders, but she still has to accept that a person in her family that she knew since birth could be gay. Homer passed that test at the end of "Homer's Phobia", when he believed that Bart was going to turn out gay and was prepared to accept it. But Marge never considered it.** Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision. It's very common for a person who believes themselves to be accepting of gays to be outright shocked or even disgusted when they find out that a close friend or relative is gay. On that note, Patty coming out as a lesbian despite seeming to have shown attraction to men in the past is also Truth In Television- many gays/lesbians don't come out until later in life. * In the episode "Sweets and Sour Marge" the head of the sugar company responsible for putting sugar in all the town's food is Garth Motherloving. His name is a bowlderized version of "Motherfucking" which makes him as bad as his name implies.* Milhouse's parents having an unhappy marriage prior to divorce is foreshadowed in two episodes. In "Grandpa Vs. Sexual Inadequacy" they sleep in twin beds. In "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" when Milhouse is playing in the jet, he pretends his parents take him to a therapist, and he pretends to shoot them.** Milhouse only imagines turning the jet's weapons against his parents. But being coerced to see a therapist could easily be the motivation for his anger. Possibly an attempt at "conversion therapy," given the numerous [[LampshadeHanging references]] to Milhouse's [[AmbiguouslyGay sexual orientation]].* Santa's Little Helper steals Homer's chocolate bar instead of waking him up in "Homer the Heretic" when the house is on fire because Homer mistreats him.** FridgeHorror: Dogs are ''extremely'' allergic to chocolate.*** FridgeBrilliance LaserGuidedKarma approaching at top speeds.* In "Bart the General" Herman, the military store owner who's missing an arm tells Bart to listen to his teacher when she says not to stick his arm out the bus window. A few episodes prior during the field trip Mrs. Krabbapel tells them the story of a kid who lost his arm. It was Herman she was talking about.** ''To Cur with Love'' contradicts this, however.* In "In Marge We Trust" Reverend Lovejoy is annoyed the letters for the sign outside the church has 5 Q's but 2 U's. In "Milhouse of Sand and Fog" we see a sign that says stop stealing our letters. There originally were more letters but people like Nelson keep swiping them.* Sideshow Bob was right in "Black Widower" when he said he'd be out when the Democrats would be back in power. The next Sideshow Bob episode "Cape Feare" aired a year and a half later in September 1993, eight months into UsefulNotes/BillClinton's term.* [[VocalEvolution Nelson's voice going from being high pitched to low and gruff sounding]] is because he's a smoker, as seen in episodes like "Saturdays of Thunder," "Brother From the Same Planet," and "Sleeping With the Enemy."* In the 2005 episode "Future-Drama" Professor Frink shows Bart and Lisa their a FlashForward scenario that takes place eight years from next Tuesday, and it involves. Bart and Lisa going to their senior prom. Proms are usually held on the weekends, and he's going by the date that Tuesday is on. That would mean it correctly did take place on a weekend, eight years into the future.* "Lisa's Wedding" has an elderly Maude Flanders and Professor Frink alive and well, despite the former dying in the series and the latter [[DrivenToSuicide hanging himself]] in "Future-Drama." This may just seem like NegativeContinuity, but remember that by "Future-Drama" scientists have invented magic and cloning machines can be afforded by the perpetually in-debt Moe. It's not out of the question that magic and/or cloning could've allowed them to appear. Maude's non-presence in "Holidays of Future Passed" is FridgeHorror though, due to [[CloneDegeneration how she was]] [[CameBackWrong brought back.]]** The Maude we see at the wedding could be a robot like the librarian earlier in the episode.** We see Mr. Burns in "Holidays of Future Passed" despite the fact he broke in half in "Lisa's Wedding." Either his lower half is a bionic implant or he was cloned as well.* There's a RunningGag in some later episodes where Lenny can't get things in his eye due to doctor's orders, and will end up getting a jigsaw puzzle piece or pudding in it. One can argue this is because he got a spring in it in "The Old Man and the C Student." Homer gave him a nut can with a spring in it, and after this was when the joke started. Because of the injury there he had to be careful from now on.* In "Like Father, Like Clown" Bart gets Krusty's father to come around when he quotes Sammy Davis Jr, a famous Jew who was a famous entertainer. Earlier in the episode, during a flashback Krusty's father tells him he could forgive him if he'd been a jazz singer or musician. The FridgeBrilliance here is that he took Sammy Davis Jr's quote seriously because he's a musician.* The episode "Future-Drama" is set eight years in the future, but some characters like Groundskeeper Willie and Apu looked like they've aged decades. This could be due to the stress of their jobs, or in Apu's case his family life.* In "Lisa the Skeptic" when Lisa's on Smartline she says that if you believe in angels, why not sea monsters, unicorns, or leprechauns. All three have been proven to exist in TheSimpsons universe. In "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" Mr. Burns captures the Lochness Monster, and receives a unicorn as a birthday gift in "Rosebud." In "This Little Wiggy" a leprechaun Ralph talks about happens to be RealAfterAll, and appears in future episodes. Despite some NegativeContinuity for the sake of a joke, Heaven, God, and Satan have been proven to exist in their universe. That being said, Lisa was proved wrong about angels existing.** Another hint about the FantasyKitchenSink of this universe, Lisa mentions monsters, unicorns, or leprechauns. What mythical creature would be an obvious example, but she doesn't mention? ''Dragons''. This is because in ''A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love'', an actual dragon is seen in Chinatown. In the Simpsons universe, ''dragons are real creatures''. And, given no wild dragons are seen in the China episode, dragons could be an endangered species.*** Dinosaur eggs are also seen hatching in the Simpsons' basement, so either the KT event never happened, or the Simpsons are due a visit from the Cross Photonics team. (If you don't get it, I'm implying an anomaly opened in the basement and the dinosaur that came through laid its eggs there).* In the season 9 episode "King of the Hill" why does Homer seem surprised when there's a mountain at least five miles high in Springfield?" The town was moved five miles down the road in the previous episode, he more than likely hadn't seen it yet and could've been adjusting to the new area.* In the episode where Marge started a food blog, I always found it strange that Homer didn't want to become a foodie since it sounds like something he would love. By as complete coincidence, I watched two random episodes on the same day; the first being the episode where Homer predicts the Rapture and the other being the famous "fugu episode". In the former, Homer loves sushi and in the latter, he was adamant at first and grew to love it. He's a glutton but not very open-minded about foreign cuisine and was telling the truth when he said "I only eat food that I've eaten before."* In "Homer Loves Flanders" and "The Fat and the Furriest" it's revealed Flanders won't let his kids eat sugar. This sounds like Ned being overprotective, but in "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" it's revealed Rod is diabetic.** Also Fridge horror in Homer Loves Flanders; Bart could quite possibly have committed manslaughter.* It's said that Homer accidentally killed Mrs. Krabappel in "Holidays of Future Passed" yet at the end of the episode it's shown Lisa has a friend request from her on the Ultra-Net. It's implied that Lisa doesn't go online much, so it could've been sent prior to then.** This makes for a FunnyAneurysmMoment in light of Marcia Wallace's untimely passing.*** Even more so now that [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim Edna herself]] [[http://edgecast.metatube-files.buscafs.com/uploads/videos/image/image_227100_4.jpg is implied to be dead]].* In "Adventures in Baby-Getting" Marge has a sinkhole emergency kit to get out of one after the car falls into it. This may seem like a random forced gag, but keep in mind the house was destroyed by one in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie''. Because of the fiasco from those events, she's always prepared.* Rodd and Tod used to go to Springfield Elementary and Ned was part of the PTA, but in recent years we've seen Rodd and Tod in a private Christian school. Ned could've had them taken out of public school and enrolled there after his {{Flanderization}}.* In several episodes Lisa knows French, she represents France in the model U.N in "Das Bus", and in "Summer of 4'2" she represents the French table. Marge's father is French, so Lisa is simply expressing her French heritage.** Possibly she learned French (And does a lot of France-related activities) to deliberately spite Bart, who also speaks the language fluently.* In "Bart the Lover" Bart mentions to Mrs. Krabappel other faculty members she could date. When he mentions Groundskeeper Willie and she says "I'm not even going to tell you what he's into." Could she be referring to him videotaping couples, as seen in "Homer Bad Man?"* Why do Itchy and Scratchy take after old Disney movies, like Pinocchio or Fantasia, despite Disney existing in TheSimpsons Universe? Easy, Itchy and Scratchy was built on plagiarism according to "The Day The Violence Died." Also, many early cartoon characters were Mickey Mouse or SillySymphony ripoffs as well.* Why does Burns give the award to an inanimate carbon rod in "Deep Space Homer?" Burns favors material goods over human lives, this is backed up by making a TV dog his vice president in "Homer's Enemy."** After Frank Grimes saves Homer's life? Burns is concerned only about "wasting precious acid," not worker safety.* In some episodes like "Lisa the Iconoclast", "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer", and "A Milhouse Divided" it's shown that Kearney the bald bully is an adult and has a kid. In a few other episodes he has an adult buy him beer or uses a fake ID. It's been shown that he gets in trouble with the law frequently and has been shown in jail, so he probably needed a fake to help him buy booze at those times because he had no ID.** That's easy, he's age 18/19, and the drinking age in... The great state of whatever Springfield's in is 21. He could have had the kid (who appears to be around 4-6) in his early teens.* The most subtle WhereTheHellIsSpringfield joke occurs at the end of "Homer at the Bat." There's a song called "Talking Softball" that recaps the plot, and names off some of the guest stars. The line "Talkin' Softball, From Maine to San Diego" means Springfield could be anywhere between these areas.* In the most recent episode "Married to the Blob," Comic Book Guy's selling a new Radioactive Man comic at midnight, and the cool comic book nerd Milo (From Husbands and Knives) comes in the store with his new wife. She makes a comment about how Milo talks to himself and now it won't seem so weird. In the next scene, CBG meets his new girlfriend and has a hallucination of Creator/StanLee who tells him to ask her out. Could Milo have had the same hallucinations with Creator/StanLee as well?* Smithers dressing up as Mr. Burns' teddy bear Bobo in "Rosebud" is a StealthPun since bear is slang for a hairy gay man and Smithers is gay.* In "Lisa's Pony" Homer is left guilt ridden after watching a home video and realizing he never paid attention to Lisa as a baby. He is finally reduced to tears after seeing himself ignore Lisa speaking. The word? "Da-da". Given the plot point made of hearing his kids say "daddy" in "Lisa's First Word", one can understand how crushing this must be.* The sign gag at the airport during the beginning of "Politically Inept With Homer Simpson" says "Built For The Olympics We Never Got." This is a CallBack to "The Old Man And The C Student" when Springfield almost got the Olympics but lost it due to Bart's antics. * I always wondered about why Bart has such admiration for his blue crowbar "Ol' Bluey" in ''Lisa the Iconoclast''. It hit me after watching ''Blood Feud''; The blue crowbar is the one that Mr. Burns "gave" Bart as a reward for saving his life with a blood donation! That crowbar not only gave him a fantastic (to him) Olmec Indian head statue, but also represents him not longer having suffer through the possible negative consequences of his posting Homer's letter to Mr. Burns in the first place.* In "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", while the family debates on where to go for dinner in Japan, Homer chimes in, "[[ItMakesSenseInContext The toilet]] recommended a place called Americatown." Why on earth would a Japanese toilet recommend American cuisine? Because it had just analyzed Homer's "waste" and determined that his diet was primarily composed of western American food! A brilliant (albeit gross) example.* It took me years to get the ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' ending in "Tales from the Public Domain." It seems like a CopOutEnding or a BigLippedAlligatorMoment but the reason Homer said Theatre/{{Hamlet}} says based on Ghostbusters was because in the version Homer told King Claudius left a trail of slime behind like Slimer. ** There is further FridgeBrilliance between the ending to this episode and the ending to the next Anthology episode "Margical History Tour." When filming ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'', Creator/DanAykroyd referred to Slimer as the ghost of Creator/JohnBelushi. In the later Homer sings about ''Film/AnimalHouse'' which is one of Belushi's most famous films. That being said "Margical History Tour's" ending is a CallBack to "Tales from the Public Domain."* "Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment" involves Homer bootlegging beer when prohibition hits Springfield. A couple seasons prior in "Secrets of A Successful Marriage" he mentions how he took a home wine making course. Because of that, Homer has knowledge on brewing and distilling alcohol properly. * In "Future-Drama" Lisa graduates high school at age 16. In "Lisa's Wedding" she's still in school at age 23. Going by the timeline we can safely say she's either in graduate school or getting her PHD by that point.* Lisa's comment about the lake catching fire in "Lemon of Troy" makes sense after watching ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie''. It was due to all the pollution.* Moe says he's gonna ogle the ladies in the Sears Catalog in "Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2." The episode aired in 1995 but the Sears Catalog was discontinued in 1993. Moe is kind of a sleaze ball and is poor, so it makes sense he'd get off to a magazine no longer in print.** In the same scene, the lie detector finds Moe's statement "I don't deserve this kind of shabby treatment!" to be a lie. Although it isn't a question of fact, this makes sense on realizing how real-life polygraphs work: this statement is considered to be a lie because Moe doesn't believe it himself.* In "Team Homer" Principal Skinner recalls how some slogans from ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' caused him to lose a battle and get thrown in a POW camp in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. This could be why he had MAD magazines in the room of confiscated items in "Separate Vocations." He knew a student who had one in their possession might cause problems.* The First Church of Springfield is a ChurchOfSaintGenericus and a mix between different denominations, which is the reason Reverend Lovejoy dresses like a Catholic priest. In "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star" it's revealed their church (Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism) is a schism from Catholicism, so Lovejoy's collar is carried over from that.* In "Scenes From The Class Struggle in Springfield" Homer whines that [[NYPDBlue Sipowicz]] wore short sleeves with a tie when Marge tells him to change clothes. Sipowicz's actor Dennis Franz portrayed Homer in the TV movie in "Homer Badman." Homer likes Sipowicz (and apparently takes fashion advice from him) because he reminds him of himself. * Krusty's raspy voice (While also a Jewish American accent) is due to him smoking cigarettes and cigars, as well as his other sedentary habits. * Sherri and Terri are the purple haired twins in Bart's class, but one of them can be seen in Lisa's class as a goof in "Lisa the Vegetarian" In a recent episode it's revealed they have a long lost triplet. That could've been her in the background instead of one of the twins, thus [[{{Handwave}} handwaving]] the mistake.* Why don't we see Maggie at the Homer clone's funeral thirty years in the future in "Days of Future Future?" The episode to a SequelEpisode to "Holidays of Future Passed" and it was established Maggie was a rockstar. She was on the road.** That would make sense, except that she can be seen later in the episode.*** She is seen on a date at the restaurant Bart takes Jenda. This was in [[spoiler: Bart's dream]] so she was probably on the road then still in real life. Dreams aren't always accurate. * "Bart Gets An F" is a SequelEpisode to the "Bart the Genius." In "Bart the Genius" he cheats on an aptitude test and goes to a private school. In "Bart Gets An F" we see how Bart actually does in school, Martin helps Bart study while in the former he harasses him, and they both involve the school shrink.* In "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" when Lisa's telling Homer about Thomas Edison, she mentions that she read about him on a restaurant placemat. Lisa just told Homer that so he would believe her, and it would encourage him to get out of the slump he was in. * In "Two Bad Neighbors" we see that UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush and Ned Flanders get along great. Another reason they could get along is because they're both left handed. (George Bush Sr. is in real life.)* Homer's line in "Homer and Apu" about how he hates it when people lie to them through song (in this case, regarding Apu's mournful revelation that he misses the Kwik-E-Mart after performing a song that rejected it) seems to be somewhat random. However, in the previous season's "Marge vs. The Monorail", Lyle Lanley duped Springfield into his monorail scam by lying to them through his catchy number.* In "Half Decent Proposal" Artie Ziff was a billionaire due to an invention that turned [[TechnologyMarchesOn dial-up noise into a soothing song.]] In his next appearance, "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" he's gone broke (Which he blames on the Dot Com bubble) Considering that dial-up was becoming a thing of the past between the two episodes (The former aired in 2002 and the latter aired in 2004) this could be really why he went bankrupt.* In "Lisa The Vegetarian" Apu pronounces Beatle" as "be-A-tle" (rhyming with "Seattle"). Apu is Indian and has an accent, but it's a subtle ShoutOut to Film/{{Help}} where Clang does the same thing.* In "The Wettest Stories Ever Told's" first story about the Mayflower, Ned Flanders' {{Expy}} says that things like poetry are against their religion, and he whips himself for accidentally rhyming. Later in the story Moe's character corrupts Homer by feeding him beer. One way we can tell that Moe is corrupt is because he says "Every time a wave hits the ship, take a sip." Not only was he encouraging drinking, he was spouting poetry.* Marge forces Bart to go to Nelson's birthday party and gives him a hard time for badmouthing him in "The Haw Hawed Couple" because she got to know Nelson in "Sleeping with the Enemy." She realizes Nelson's parents are incompetent and that he has a hard life.* In "Day of the Jackanapes" Moe casually states he was born in Indiana. Moe has a MultipleChoicePast, his heritage changes from episode to episode, and he may've said that to cover his tracks from shady dealings. Szyslak is an Eastern European name, most likely Hungarian, and northwestern Indiana does have a lot of people of Eastern and Central European ancestry. That being said it's possible Moe was telling the truth.* The "Don't Forget, You're Here Forever" plaque could be why Homer doesn't go to work as much and gets his job back easily in the latter seasons.* Why does Homer think that ballet is a bear in a little car in "Marge on the Lam?" Bear + Valet = Ballet* Milhouse knows what kind of helicopter that's landing in "Stealing First Base" because of his uncle in "Special Edna." His uncle let him and Bart fly his black hawk, so due to his uncle he has knowledge of aircrafts.* Lisa and Maggie are seen playing bartender in "The Kid Is All Right." Moe and Maggie played that in "Moe Baby Blues" when he was babysitting her, and it appears to be a favorite game of hers and makes the joke a little less random.* In "The Blue and the Grey" when Milhouse sees Marge's grey hair, he asks if she saw the vampire from ''Series/SesameStreet''. While this is Milhouse being a wimp, Marge was shown to be uneasy with the Count in "The Girl Who Slept Too Little." That could be why Milhouse was asking.* In "Homer and Apu" Homer mentions Lisa playing the instrument Apu gave her was worse that the [[NoodleIncident album Grandpa released.]] A few episodes prior in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" we see Grandpa auditioning for Homer's band singing a swing version of "Old [=MacDonald=]." This could be one of the songs for that horrible album, and Grandpa auditioning could be him trying to find more time in the musical limelight.* Fridge Funny. In "Lisa Goes Gaga", Bart dresses Maggie with weird items and presents her to Lady gaga under the nickname "Baby [=GooGoo=]". Lady Gaga's stage name is taken from a Queen song titled Radio [=GaGa=], for which the chorus goes like this at some point: "Radio Gaga, ''Radio [=GooGoo=]'', Radio Ga-Ga". Hard to say if it was intentional from the writers, but it makes the joke even better.* In "Bart the General" Lisa makes cupcakes for her teacher, but gives one to Otto. It looks like Lisa being nice to the school staff, but keep in mind Otto's a stoner. Lisa probably doesn't know that and gave him a cupcake because he more than likely always has the [[StealthPun munchies]].* At the end of "New Kids on the Blecch" Music/{{NSYNC}} does a parody PSA about how the navy is saving people from Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, pirates, and jellyfish. In ''The Simpsons'' universe, all three have been shown to be an issue. Franchise/{{Godzilla}} attacks the family's airplane at the end of "30 Minutes Over Tokyo," pirates attack Mr. Burns' boat in "The Mansion Family," and Springfield has a jellyfish festival where they migrate to the beach in "A Star is Born, Again," and Ralph Wiggum is carried off by the waves and stung. What was a quick parody turns out to have had some truth behind it.* Notice in "Bart's Inner Child" when Troy McClure's reading the cue cards he's squinting. This is because he has poor eyesight, as shown in "A Fish Called Selma."* In "Homer the Heretic" Marge seems more adamant about the family going to church than previous episodes. This could be due to the promise she made in "Homer Defined" when she prayed to God and said she'd try to be a better Christian if they survived the nuclear crisis. * Anytime Bart prank calls Moe's, Moe never knows it's him. There was an episode where Bart went to get Homer after he made a prank call, but Moe still had no idea. This could be due to the fact that a lot of prepubescent voices sound alike to adults or the fact there was an adult construction worker in "The PTA Disbands" that sounded like Bart. He could think it was the other guy making the calls, but hadn't pursued anything since Bart hasn't been making the calls as much. * In "Team Homer" during the encouraging "You can do it Otto chant" Homer starts chanting [[Music/{{Styx}} "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto."]] While it looks like Homer stupidity and forcing a word that rhymes with Otto, keep in mind that Otto likes heavy metal and classic rock as well. Hearing a classic rock song probably helped encourage him.* At the end of "Days of Future Future," an episode that takes place 30 years from now, Marge mentions that she and Homer had been married for 35 years. It would've been longer than that considering they married before Bart was born and he'd be in his 40s at this point. Keep in mind that Homer and Marge did remarry a couple times, the most recent one being in the 2009 episode "Wedding for Disaster." DOFF takes place in 2044, so Marge's statement was indeed accurate. * While TheSimpsons Gene determining intelligence may or may not be canon, there is one thing in the Simpsons family that may be; musical talent. Music talent has been linked to genetics. Lisa obviously plays the saxophone, Homer was had a barbershop quartet, a grunge band, a number one hit, and has been an opera singer. Grandpa has said to have [[NoodleIncident released an album,]] Bart has been in a boy band, and Maggie is shown to be a world famous musician as an adult in "Holidays of Future Past."* In Treehouse of Horror XIII Abe goes on a diatribe about how {{Superman}} challenged FDR to a race around the world. While it's a typical Grandpa story, it does make sense considering the actor who played Superman (Christopher Reeves) was in a wheelchair, as was FDR.* In "Day of the Jackanapes", Krusty reveals that he recorded over all his old shows from the Sideshow Bob era and then badmouth that era, only to end up giving a surprise tribute to Sideshow Bob at the end of his farewell show. Seems like it might be contradictory, but perhaps his badmouthing of Sideshow Bob on the air was just a way to keep the surprise a secret. ** While TheSimpsons isn't known for its continuity, this seems to be the case because Krusty mentioned the Best of Sideshow Bob DVD in "Funeral For A Fiend." The thing about the Master Tapes was a facade.* A gag in "Day of the Jackanapes" has Bob plotting his revenge, only to then be informed that three of his fellow storage rental neighbors are also plotting their revenge. They represent Bob's past crimes with their weapon choices: a gun (framing Krusty for armed robbery), a knife (trying to murder Bart aboard the houseboat), and a bomb (threatening to nuke Springfield unless they got rid of their [=TVs=]). So of course his plan was better-he's learned from those past efforts, and won't repeat them.* In "Days of Future Future" we see Duffman in the future and he sounds like the character Old Jewish Man. The Duffman actor in "Co-Dependents Day" says that he's Jewish, so it could be the same actor.* In "Alone Again, Naturadiddily" when Ned's down on himself, he says he's as exciting as a baked potato and Marge excitedly says "You're darn right you are." This may sound like Marge is humoring him, but in "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Badassssssss Song" she says she finds potatoes interesting, which is why she suggests Bart take one to show and tell.* At the beginning of "Lady Bouvier's Lover" Marge's mom reminisces about Bart and Lisa singing the Armour Hot Dogs theme song, leading to the family singing the jingle. There are a couple other subtle references to hot dogs throughout the episode. A couple of the towers at the Power Plant have a design that makes them look like hot dogs. Bart also shoots Mr. Burns with a squirt gun filled with ketchup and mustard, two popular condiments for hot dogs.* More Future Brilliance: In "Holidays Of Future Passed" we see that Superintendent Chalmers is cryogenically frozen. In the previous future episode, Future-Drama, it's shown that he became a vegetable due to use of [[FictionalDrug Stem.]] It's possible he was frozen so that they could find a cure for the brain damage.* At the end of "Flaming Moe's" Homer asked Moe if Aerosmith is going to perform tonight and Moe says "I doubt it." Moe's business [[StatusQuoIsGod goes back to normal at the end]] due to Homer revealing the secret ingredient to the drink, but keep in mind Homer fell on Aerosmith in the previous scene. He more than likely hospitalized them, and they wouldn't be able to perform anyways. This would go under FridgeHorror but Joey Kramer guest stars in a later episode, and Steven Tyler appears on the Wheatie's Box in "Little Big Mom."** An extra line cut for syndication spells this out, removing the fridge aspect, by saying that he is indeed recovering from Homer's fall.* In Dr. Hibbert's first few appearances [[CharacterizationMarchesOn he's very stern and doesn't laugh.]] In "Make Room For Lisa" he mentions learning to laugh helped him out and saved him from an early grave. It's possible that he learned that after his first few appearances, hence it's a justified CharacterizationMarchesOn.* In "Bart's Friend Falls in Love" Milhouse says "We started out like RomeoAndJuliet, but we ended up in tragedy" after he and Samantha break up. The line is meant to be ironic but since he's only a fourth grader, Milhouse has probably never read the story. He probably just knows [[PopculturalOsmosis it's a love story.]]* In ''Brick Like Me'', Lisa becomes friends with older girls from school, because they share a passion of The Survival Games. One of the girls even mentions that Lisa's paper about the series was correct, "that the series was about love". If The Survival Games is more than just the ShallowParody shown at the end of the episode, Lisa most likely knew the true social and political message of the series. It's even possible she read it because it had become a fad at school (though Literature/TheHungerGames is not an appropriate read for elementary school children), and understood immediately. But since Lisa desperately wants friends, she went with the "romance" aspect because she'd then agree with all the girls who read the series for that reason. It's even mirrored during the projection, with Homer who went there [[JustHereForGodzilla just to watch an action movie]], and thus has to sit through everything else.* Alex from "Lard of the Dance" is seen in Lisa's tap dancing class in "Last Tap Dance In Springfield." At the end of the former, she is seen acting her age after acting like a mini adult throughout the episode. Apparently she decided to take Lisa's advice and act like a child, hence why she's taking tap.* In "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe," Moe's new girlfriend is a little person, and he gets rid of anything she might find offensive like a midget wrestling banner and the book LittleWomen. The latter may seem like another random joke, but in "Homer Loves Flanders" he's seen reading it at the homeless shelter. Either Moe still does that or he hadn't gotten rid of the book.* In "American History X-Cellent," Lenny tells Smithers that he used to think he was as bad as Mr. Burns, but now he thinks he's as good as him. Lenny was in charge of the plant for a while in "The Old Man and the Lisa," so he was comparing Smithers to his work.* In "Mr. Spritz Goes To Washington," Krusty has an old sketch that makes fun of gay stereotypes, in addition to the Jamaicans and French. The episode aired in 2003, but Krusty claims it was a different time, 1998. The joke is that it happened not long ago, but in real life 1998 was a tipping point in the gay rights movement. That's when it was becoming more socially acceptable and shows like ''Series/WillAndGrace'' became hits in the ratings. The sketch could've aired very early in the year when those jokes were still acceptable. * In "Papa Don't Leach" Lurleen Lumpkin says her father's made her the happiest person on "Whatever side of the Mississippi this is." This sounds like a WhereTheHellIsSpringfield joke, but in "Colonel Homer" she admits she never went to school. She probably doesn't know geography at all.* In "Marge Be Not Proud," Bart imagines video game characters like DonkeyKong, [[SuperMarioBrothers Mario and Luigi,]] and SonicTheHedgehog telling him to steal Bone Storm, while Lee Carvallo from a golf game tells him not to do it. This is Bart's conscience telling him to do it and he's justifying it. This is why the popular mascots tell him to do it, but Lee Carvallo tries to talk him out of it. Bart thinks the golf game is lame, and of course he'd imagine the character talking him out of it.* In the opening credits Bart does a [[CouchGag chalkboard gag]] almost every week. Some of these are stuff he did, and some appear to be outrageous claims. Mrs. Krabappel is a smoker, so some of them are just him dicking around and making up stuff to entertain himself when she's on her break.* In "Whacking Day" Bart gets kicked out of the colonial village for pointing out contradicting stories about Jebediah Springfield creating the titular holiday and fighting in the Battle of Ticonderoga. This is foreshadowing that Whacking Day is a fraud, but the brilliance is that Jebediah himself is a fraud as revealed in "Lisa The Iconoclast." The story of him fighting in Ticonderoga is more than likely made up too.** Later in the episode Reverend Lovejoy is trying to justify the holiday by "reading" a passage from the Bible. The reason a religious figure would justify beating snakes and find them evil is because of the Serpent in the Adam and Eve story. * In "Day of the Jackanapes" Krusty announces he's quitting show biz for the fifth and final time. He had previously left the business on four different occasions throughout the series, all for different reasons; In "Krusty Gets Busted" he was thrown in jail and Sideshow Bob took over his show. In "Krusty Gets Kancelled, his show is canned before his comeback special. He fakes his death in "Bart The Fink," and he briefly announces his retirement in "The Last Temptation Of Krust" before he does standup. * In the season 26 episode "Walking Big and Tall", the fat acceptance group meeting that Homer attends has an array of chocolatey, salty, and deep fried fatty treats laid out for refreshments. And of course, can't forget the diet sodas. This may seem like like a contradiction, but studies have proven that the additives in diet soda may interfere with the way one's body perceives hunger and satiation, so it may seem that person is still hungry when they would otherwise feel full. So, in a weird way it would make sense that the large individuals in the group would drink diet soda.* In "Trilogy of Error" Rainier Wolfcastle says he had to do horrible things to pay for his new Italian sports car. In later episodes like "Strong Arms of the Ma" it's established he did porn. Could this be how he paid for the car?* The town drunk in the Italian village in "The Italian Bob" is a 2 year old who looks and sounds like Barney Gumble. In "Selma's Choice" Barney is a sperm donor. It's possible that the child is his son through artificial insemination. * One of the lyrics of the Stonecutter's song in "Homer the Great" is "Who rigs every Oscar night?" A few episodes later in "A Star Is Burns" Mr. Burns' short film goes to the Oscars, but he loses even after bribing judges. Since the Stonecutters disbanded, he didn't have a guaranteed way to make sure his movie won.* Homer's description of the Kwik-E Mart robber to the police sketch artist in "Krusty Gets Busted" basically tells you the ending of the episode.* In "The Twisted World Of Marge Simpson" Moe is surprised when Homer uses a fifty dollar bill because he says Homer's money is no good there. Homer must be using money printed by the Montana Militia, as witnessed in "Kill The Alligator and Run." This claim is backed up again in "Half Decent Proposal" when he's whining that he can't print his own money and has to work for his own.* Why does Flanders serve no alarm chili in "Pay Pal?" In "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer," his five alarm chili was actually two alarm and he was ashamed of lying. This way he could serve his chili and be honest about it.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'', Quimby declares the barrier completely idiot-proof after Cletus [[EpicFail fails to dump a rat into the lake, despite several rather obvious ways to do so.]] However, if you're smart enough to simply get the rubbish ''over' the barrier, you aren't an idiot, and thus the barrier is not designed to keep you out!* A RunningGag from earlier seasons was Homer mentioning a new life long dream, just for Marge to mention an old one he already accomplished. In "You Only Move Twice," Homer starts telling her about his dream of owning the Dallas Cowboys, and Marge harshly reacts "What life long dream?" By this point, she was sick of the subject and wanted to cut to the chase.* Bart enjoys listening to 1970s rock in "Bart On The Road," but finds it lame a few episodes later in "Homerpalooza" when Homer liked it. Bart's a kid, and a lot of kids find something they liked lame when they find out their parents are into it.* Milhouse's dad is seen at AA meetings in several episodes. Drinking could be one of the reasons his marriage fell apart or he turned to booze to help deal with his divorce.* In "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation," the family passes [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a mental institution, a slaughter house, and Santa's Village, the last of which freaks Homer out the most.]] Homer feared the Santa's Village for two reasons; He worked as a Mall Santa and made no money, and the last time he was at one he got the crap kicked out of him by reindeer. * At the beginning of "Gump Roast," Wiggum tells Homer there's a law against impersonating movie characters when he sees Homer dressed as ForrestGump. In the paddy wagon we see Moe dressed as Film/AustinPowers and Dr. Hibbert as [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader.]] Hibbert dressed as Darth Vader makes sense since Vader was voiced by a deep voiced black man, but the brilliance is that Moe and Austin Powers are both perverts. It makes sense a creep like Moe would imitate an outdated, dorky movie character to pick up women.* In "Puffless" Selma [[ItMakesSenseInContext imagines her cigarette talking to her in Jon Lovitz's voice]] when she's trying to quit smoking. We see her hitting up [[ContinuityNod ex husbands and boyfriends]] through out the episode, but no mention of Artie Ziff. Since Artie's in prison (and voiced by Lovitz) she could've been imaging her cigarette as Artie since she couldn't hook up with him.* The Tree House Of Horror segment "Nightmare Cafeteria" title refers to the teachers cooking the students for lunch, but since it's [[spoiler: AllJustADream]] the title can also refer to the segment's conclusion. * In 1993, Butterfinger aired a commercial where Bart's candy bar was stolen & viewers had to determine who it was (out of Burns, Lisa, Otto, Krusty, Nelson & Homer) to win $50 grand. A month later, a new commercial aired that revealed the thief was Krusty. The winner, Nancy Fredholm, must have noticed the Butterfinger was taken from a Krusty brand safe.* The episode "Barthood" has [[ContinuityNod continuity nods]] to "Future-Drama," like Bart's appearance as a teenager, Lisa going to Yale, etc. "Future-Drama" was a What If scenario involving Frink's time machine, which means it was able to get some things about the future right. That explains why the future we see in "Barthood" isn't as advanced as the one in "Future-Drama."* Sonic telling Bart to take the video game in "Marge Be Not Proud" may be a parody of [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Sonic Sez]] where Sonic would normally be opposed to stuff like that.* In "Barthood" Bart is seen outgrowing Krusty by the time he's twelve, despite liking him in other future episodes. It's normal for kids to outgrow something when they hit a certain age, but like it for nostalgia when they get older. Either that or Bart was going through a Krusty sucks phase.* In Lisa the Skeptic, Lisa doesn't believe in angels while other episodes portray her as being somewhat religious. This doesn't have to be a contradiction; if you know your Christian history, the portrayal of angels as people with wings is a fairly recent one. While it was unintentional on the writers' part, Lisa was valid in her skepticism as angels, as ethereal beings, should not be able to leave fossils behind.* In "A Street Car Named Marge" there are parallels between Marge and Blanche DuBois, since Marge feels underappreciated since Homer's indifferent like Stanley. Both of them have French last names (Marge's is Bouvier) adding a layer to the similarities. * Why does staid Marge choose the alley behind the porno theater in "Treehouse of Horror IX: Starship Poopers"? Because she's essentially being unwillingly assaulted, so she picked the skeeviest choice available to her. * In "In The Name Of The Grandfather" one of Grandpa's dreams was to pitch in the Negro Leagues, which Homer sees an issue with. Abe has a black ancestor and thought he could get in based on that. This episode aired before "The Color Yellow" so Homer doesn't know about it yet, hence why he sees an issue with it. * When Marge tells Lisa to stay away from Bleeding Gums Murphy in "Moaning Lisa" she tells him it's because she fears strangers. Marge was apologizing because she thought she might be misconstrued as racist since her daughter was hanging out with a black jazz musician. * In "Old Yeller-Belly", while praising cats, Homer states that to him, Yusuf Islam will always be Cat Stevens. This gets reflected in his [[ImagineSpot Imagine Spot]] in "Mypods And Boomsticks", when American music CDs get changed to Cat Stevens CDs.* Some recent episodes show NegativeContinuity involving Moe's Tavern such as him cleaning the wall and discovering a window. Episodes such as "Dumbbell Indemnity" and "Mommy Beerest" show that Moe's burned down and was rebuilt, hence why he discovered it when he did. * In "Lisa's Rival", Hans Moleman crashes a cargo truck full of sugar that Homer takes for himself. Bart thinks he's stealing the sugar, but then Homer reminds him of a clause in Springfield's town charter that says any foodstuffs that touch the ground must go to the village idiot. Now, who in Springfield would be better suited to fulfill that role? In other words, under Springfield law ''the sugar legally belongs to Homer''.* In "Hurricane Neddy", Ned gets uncontrollably outraged at Springfielders doing an inadequate job at rebuilding his home. But remember that they looted Ned's Leftorium store for no good reason, and it's afterwards that they try to make up for that, and even that's horribly done. No wonder Ned snapped.* Mr Burns VillainDecay could be caused by the brain damage he received after getting shot [[spoiler:by Maggie]]* In "Black Widower", Bart has to try to explain Selma's precarious situation to Homer ''four times'' before he goes to Marge. While this could easily be a joke about how dumb Homer is, Homer also ''hates'' Patty and Selma. His lack of giving a shit about Selma coupled with his stupidity equals the point not just escaping him, but Homer going out of his way to avoid it. So Bart goes to the parent he ''knows'' will want to save Selma's life.* Why is the Loch Ness Monster so comfortable with being photographed in "Monty Can't Buy Me Love"? Because people flock to the lake every day to take pictures of her. She's used to it.* "Das Bus" ends with the narrator stating that the children stranded on the island were rescued by "oh, let's say... Moe." While it was intended as a humorous cop-out of an ending, the credits of the earlier episode "The Homer They Fall" do show Moe saving people while flying with the Fan Man's fan, making his rescue of the children seem more in-character and believable.* Homer's UltimateJobSecurity and his having his job back by next week's episode when he is actually fired make perfect sense when you realize that Mr. Burns probably ''wants'' a lazy, incompetent dope like Homer as the plant's safety inspector. That way, Burns is technically complying with state safety laws, but never has to spend any money on safety or upkeep at the plant. In "C.E.D'Oh", Homer actually starts doing his job responsibly. He compiles a list of changes that the plant needs to make, and presents it to Mr. Burns. How does Burns reward Homer for showing competence and working hard? He...[[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished dumps Homer into a pool filled with electric eels.]] One can't help but wonder if Frank Grimes would have gone insane from the general stupidity and incompetence of ''everyone'' at the plant even if he'd never met Homer.

[[AC:FridgeHorror]]* In the third episode, "The Odyssey of Homer," Homer loses his job (due to circumstances that weren't entirely his fault,) repeatedly fails to find a new one, and slips into a deep depression. Unable to take any of his family's encouragement to heart and believing that they're better off without him, [[DrivenToSuicide he tries to commit suicide]]. The fridge horror kicks in when you realize that, if his family had showed up a second or two later than they did, all of them, '''including his children''', would have seen Homer ending his own life. Homer was only ''seconds'' away from killing himself right in front of his wife and kids, and only by a slim sliver of luck did they show up in time to talk him out of it. * Near the end of the flashback in "The Way We Was," it's ''heavily'' implied that Marge was almost sexually assaulted by her prom date. He tries to grope her, and ends up tearing her dress sleeve and bra strap. * Bart getting stuck down a well in ''Radio Bart'' is quite horrific if the community itself didn't care for helping a boy. Would they have all left him down there ''forever'' if Bart's parents didn't intervene?** How citizens of Springfield treated Bart in "The Boys Of Bummer" was terrible and cruel, yes, ''even for the comedic standards in the series''. The fact that they abused and humiliated Bart just because over a [[DisproportionateRetribution lousy baseball game]] makes you wonder: what kind of mindset would allow that to happen?* In the end of "Boy Scoutz N Da Hood", the rest of the campers are seen being attacked by an [[BehindTheBlack unknown monster]]. None of them are ''ever seen again, ever.''** Not just any monster. Judging by the music, it is implied they were attacked by [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason]].*** So yeah, they probably died. Selma mentions earlier in the episode that "it's cougar season", so they could have been attacked by a cougar.* We find out in "The Fool Monty" that the thing that keeps Mr Burns alive [[spoiler:is bile and hate.]] That's right, not only is [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr Burns]] ''immortal'', but in order to do so he has to be a heartless millionaire. We've seen the damage to Springfield and the world that Burns has caused. Unless someone can bankrupt/kill him ([[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney which probably]] [[StatusQuoIsGod won't work]]), Springfield is going to have to put up with him ''[[ImmortalityImmorality For]][[KarmaHoudini ever]]'', making Mr. Burns' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns,_Baby_Burns genuinely]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Can%27t_Buy_Me_Love nice]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hunka_Hunka_Burns_in_Love moments]] utterly meaningless.** In Rosebud, it's revealed that Mr Burns is still alive ''[[TimeAbyss one million years from now.]]'' At which point the world has become a Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes with numerous Homers running around. Given Mr Burns has done some genetic engineering, the mutations we've seen his nuclear waste create and the fact he's immortal, Mr Burns could've been responsible for the apocalypse. ** Also, in Rosebud, there's a newspaper clipping in which he credits his long life to Satan, which would explain why bile and hate keeps him alive, Satan owns him and will take his immortality away if he defies him.* Homer has attempted suicide multiple times (when he couldn't find a job, when he tried to stop Bart from jumping Springfield Gorge, when he couldn't grow crops on his father's farm, when his fifteen minutes of fame over bowling a perfect game were up -- to name a few, and that's not counting the foolish things he does that would get a real person killed or injured, like boxing a professional heavyweight, eating an extremely rotten hoagie, drinking dishwashing liquid, driving his bartender buddy's car off a cliff, getting electrocuted [several times by everything from lightning to [[MyLittlePanzer dangerous toys]]], getting a flower shot in his head, or trying to escape a riptide while teaching his baby daughter how to swim). In "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind," he predicts that he will do so again after losing his memory, and knows exactly how, when, and where he is likely to do so. He has been thinking about it a lot. Maybe all of his innocent buffoonery (and alcoholism) is actually an expression of deep-seated self-destructive tendencies.* In "Three Gays of the Condo", Moe force-feeds beer to Homer when the latter comes "dangerously" close to realizing that alcohol is actually a problem. Combine that with Moe's encouragement of Homer to become the "new Barney", and his feeding of Barney's new coffee addiction, both in "Days of Wine and D'ohses", and throw in his robbing of Homer in "The Parent Rap" ("[[LampshadeHanging Yeah, I rob now.]]"), and Moe looks like an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] willing to do anything to keep his patrons addicted and paying him.** Potential Fridge TearJerker - given Moe's main character trait is his misery, bitterness and loneliness, he does these things because Homer, Barney, Lenny, and Carl (plus the assorted other winos who pass through in the background) are the only constants in his life. If they stop drinking, they stop coming to Moe's, they stop being there. These are his only friends, and the only way he thinks he can keep them around is by plying them with alcohol.* One of the most beloved and longest running gags on the series is Homer strangling his ten year old son. Think about that for a second.** Though a lot of later episodes do mention how brutal and abusive that is, such as "Love Is A Many Strangled Thing" and "Behind the Laughter."** Yes, it is Lampshaded, but not deconstructed or justified. And a few episodes after that, it's back to being PlayedForLaughs again.** *thinks* {{Refuge In Audacity}}.** The ThisExplainsSoMuch joke in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E6TodayIAmAClown Today I Am A Clown]] has many UnfortunateImplications attached to it. The episode shows that not only has Bart been severely injured multiple times but Homer and Marge have lied about how it happened to escape punishment. * The drastic {{Flanderization}} of [[TropeNamer Ned Flanders]]? It all came after Maude's death. Or when Flanders went insane after yelling at everyone who tried and failed to fix his house (as seen in "Hurricane Neddy"), though that could have been the StartOfDarkness and Maude's death was the last straw.** "Hurricane Neddy" showed that Ned has been repressing anger for decades, leading him to release it after the destruction of his house. Given how utterly devastated he must have been by Maude's death, he's probably venting his frustration through religion, and at the same time tries to be as non-aggressive as possible due to his high moral standards. [[JerkassWoobie Poor guy probably thinks he'll be damned if he acts out in genuine rage.]]*** Dr. Foster says that Ned's {{Verbal Tic}}s, such as "diddly" and "okily-dokily" were how his anger would manifest. In "Lisa the Vegetarian", the whole Flanders family is shown saying "diddly-doodily", "okily-dokily" and variants thereof, which would suggest that [[InTheBlood suppressed anger runs deep throughout the Flanders family]].** Also FridgeHorror the third future episode-one of other visions Professor Frink has, "Ned's Revenge", has Future Ned [[BewareTheNiceOnes impaling Homer]]. Maude's death and having to deal with years of penting up his anger must've made him want to pay Homer back for causing Maude's death.*** Even creepier? Ned was smiling while impaling Homer.** This could be {{Canon}}. In "You Kent Always Say What You Want" Rod and Todd seem concerned when he's going through TV shows to intentionally find something offensive, saying they need a new mommy. * Homer has been getting dumber as time passes. However, given the head injuries he's suffered, his increasing stupidity may not be a result of flanderization but rather severe brain trauma caused by many unfortunate injuries. Any flashback of Homer being stupid long before these may be a result said injuries turning him into an UnreliableNarrator. Made worse by the fact that the first major injury Homer suffered was in Season 2, which happened due to trying to stop Bart from attempting to jump over the Springfield-Homer's HairTriggerTemper towards Bart may be somewhat justified.** He does say that he had brain damage after being in a coma in the clip show, so this could be the case.* The episodes where Bart is shown at his absolute worse such as Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie and Love is a Many Strangled Thing leads to the joke that Homerís strangling of Bart suppresses many of his sociopathic tendencies. However Bart only started acting out after Homer and Marge had punished him then let him off. Even the episode that many people consider Bartís MoralEventHorizon follows this principle Bart only started manipulating them after Marge told him not to do his homework. Now look at Bart does when they either follow through with their punishment or ignore him completely. In Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie he eventually becomes a Supreme Court judge, in the Parent Rap he always gets on the honor roll, while in Postcards from the Wedge he attempted to destroy the town. This shows that Bart is not a brat heís self destructive. His parents only seem willing to give him attention when heís blowing something up so thatís what he does. And in those rare times when it looks like they are about to act like real parent and punish him for his bad deeds or make him do his work only to turn around and say forget it he makes his opinion known.** This actually makes a lot of since Homer and Marge do seem to only notice Bart when heís doing something bad. In Bart of Darkness when he broke his leg the just locked him in his room and even after noticing that this was having a negative effect on him they still left him there by himself. This would also explain animosity towards Homer and Skinner. In Lisaís Sax, Homer outright said "Screw Bart, Lisa needs our attention!" And Skinner never showed his face until after Bart started acting out.** This also leads to a good FreudianExcuse for Bartís Flanderization Marge went from a mother who would sit down with her son to help him study when was expelled to the point where the school let him back in to someone who casually and repeatedly states that he will never amount to anything but a homeless bum. Homer went from a father who would risk his life to stop his son from doing an idiotic stunt to one who would throw his son into a lionís pit. Is it a wonder why Bart went from BookDumb to someone who just doesnít care?** The entirety of the Simpsons is one big screw you to Bart especially with its repeated use of RecycledScript both Lisaís Sax and Black-eyed Please involve a member of the Simpson family (Bart and Lisa respectively) being bullied by their teacher however while Homer and Marge did everything in their power to help Lisa even recruiting Bart. They completely ignored Bart. Also Bart has repeatedly and selflessly aided Lisa even going so far as to sacrifice himself so that she wouldnít be expelled yet as On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister shows she doesnít even remember let alone acknowledge them.* [[http://www.screwattack.com/news/top-10-sad-truths-behind-simpsons-0 This article pretty much explains dark implications of many elements of the series]]* A more subtle one: [[JerkassWoobie Moe Szyslak]] is known for numerous suicidal attempts, and most of the time survives due to luck. In "Future Drama" Moe has access to cloning technology so advanced that they can't tell who's the original. It's quite possible that the original Moe [[DrivenToSuicide offed himself.]] [[ParanoiaFuel It's not like we would notice.]]* In "Moms I'd Like to Forget it's shown that [[spoiler: Ralph Wiggum was dropped on his head as a baby.]] Considering his {{Flanderization}} have his parents been neglecting him and does he keep injuring himself?* A potential bit of tear-jerking Fridge Horror: With Marcia Wallace's passing and the Mrs. Krabappel character being "retired", unless they plan on simply [[DemotedToExtra having her seen but not heard]], Ned will be a widower... again.** Edna has now been confirmed to be dead onscreen with a scene showing Ned (and Nelson) remembering her fondly.* In ''Bart's Comet'', the only damage the caused by the comet is the destruction of Ned's bomb shelter - the one that pretty much the entire town had been using until a few minutes before the comet hit.* In "Catch 'Em if You Can," Marge and Homer plan on going to Ohio to visit Homer's uncle Tyrone. They decide to go to Miami as a getaway, and Bart and Lisa find them out due to a weather report of a tornado ripping through Dayton. Since Uncle Tyrone is never seen or mentioned again, it's possible he was killed by the tornado.* In "The 22 short films of Springfield" one subplot involves Snake and Chief Wiggum captured by Herman in his weapons shop and having them tied up until "Zed shows up". Sure it is a parody of film/PulpFiction but those who have seen the film would realize that if it wasn't for Milhouse and his dad showing up before Zed does, the said viewers could imagine that Zed and Herman would do something unspeakable to Snake and Chief Wiggum "in the end"!* It's played for laughs, but a nuclear plant owner as greedy as Mr. Burns and a nuclear plant safety inspector as dumb as Homer, as well as a police chief as dumb as Wiggum, probably causes a lot of deaths.* In "Homer the Vigilante" there is this exchange:- Kent Brockman: "Hordes of panicky people seem to be evacuating the town for some unknown reason. Professor, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it's time for our viewers to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?" Professor: "Mmm, yes I would, Kent." So, what if some people listened and did?* At the end of "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner," Artie goes to prison and makes a lot of inmates angry when he puts out their cigarettes. Other than a non canon Treehouse of Horror episode, we haven't seen Artie since. It's possible he got shanked or beat to death in prison. * In "Scenes From A Class Struggle In Springfield", Marge goes to her sisters' apartment to ask if they have any classy clothes she can borrow. One of the outfits she tries on is a tacky, oversized red leather dress, which is comical enough, but the fridge horror sets in with the next dress she tries on, a pink and ridiculously tight minidress that, according to Patty, was originally a Halloween costume but has since "worked its way back into our regular wardrobe". If that dress was too ill-fitting for slim Marge, one can only imagine how it looked [[BrainBleach on Patty or Selma's frames...]]* At the end of "Lisa the Drama Queen", Lisa lets her former best friend ride off into the night because Lisa wants to live in reality. She let an 8 year old girl ride off alone at night, who knows [[AdultFear what could have happened to her]], especially since she's a OneShotCharacter.* In "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", Bob threatens Springfield at the air show on tv, telling them that if they don't get rid of all television, he'll detonate a atomic bomb, and he shuts the screen off. People murmur. Then, Sideshow Bob comes back on to say he's aware of the irony of appearing on tv to complain about it, so don't bother using that logic on him, and shuts the tv off again. Only then, the people start panicking and running away.* In another Sideshow Bob-related episode, "Cape Feare" when he is driving around the neighborhood declaring who will ''not'' be murdered by him, he not only omits Bart's name, but you notice how he doesn't mention Rod and Todd by name, either.** It was probably just a mistake on Bob's part. He likely just forgot to mention them.* Elon Musk, creator of electric cars, is vilified by Springfield after Mr. Burns decides to sack most of his staff and send Springfield into economic collapse, [[EvilisPetty all because he wouldn't turn a ridiculously high profit]]. Mr. Burns is a member of the Stonecutters, who sing about how they ''"held back the electric car"''. Springfield's economic downturn was most likely a powerplay [[StatusQuoIsGod so that the locals would continue to fund the Stonecutter's excessive lifestyle]].* "Marge Be Not Proud" has become known as an infamous example in Marge not showing Bart any affection after he did something horrible. This leads Bart to fear that his mother doesn't love him anymore, which would certainly qualify for FridgeHorror in itself if it weren't within the story. But what if something terrible happened to Bart, like a serious injury, a heartbreaking experience, childhood trauma, etc.? Would she STILL not show any affection for Bart then? It doesn't help that, not counting the 138th Episode Spectacular, this episode was immediately after [[ArchEnemy Sideshow Bob's]] Last Gleaming...* The Itchy and Scratchy Movie: I realized something. How was Maggie able to get into Homer's car and go on a joyride? With the obvious RuleOfFunny out of the way, my guess is Homer must have left his keys in the ignition so not only was Bart unfairly punished, he was punished for Homer's screwup.* In "Mypods and Broomsticks", when Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney were bullying Bashir, Kearney mentions "I'm going to punch you extra hard because I find you cute!"... remember that Bashir is around Bart's age and Kearney has been said to be either a teen or a adult...* It's confirmed in "Much Apu about Something" that Homer allowed Bart to see "A Clockwork Orange" at age 5... Bart saw the movie at age 5!!!! Let that sink in readers... oh and he probably saw the parts with rape too!** [[FridgeBrilliance That does explain why he has an Alex costume in "Treehouse of Horror III.""]]* Sideshow Bob has demonstrated to have a taste for Bart's blood in a Halloween episode.** Sure, the ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E5TreehouseOfHorrorXXVI Treehouse of Horror XXVI]]'' segment "Wanted: Dead, then Alive" features some ([[FoeRomanceSubtext possibly romantic]]) FoeYay subtext between Sideshow Bob and Bart (Bob even goes further when he decides to revive his ArchEnemy because it brought him some excitement in his life); but on the other hand, Music/ElvisCostello's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU_zMvaX05Q "Accidents Will Happen"]],[[note]]a song about "the gamesmanship of romance" and "a kiss-off to a lover given her walking papers for crimes both real and imagined"[[/note]] played in the background of Bart's DeathMontage, may be this, since the song implies Bob to be a pedophile or a MemeticMolester [[RapeAndRevenge taking revenge toward Bart]]. Perhaps the song is a bit too... unsettling. Well, that... and the "I ♥ Bart" tattoo on Bob's back and the [[ILoveTheDead necrophilia between both of them]].*** There's also that time where he kidnaps Bart and sings to him "I've grown accustomed to his face! And dream of [[EyeScream gouging out his eyes]]!"* In the episode where Lisa competes in the Spelling Bee, Homer is hopelessly addicted to ribwiches which gives him "the shakes". Shakes are a symptom of consuming human meat. [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies Just what the hell are in those sandwiches]]?!* [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-simpsons-are-extradimensional-beings-created-by-futurama/ As talked about on here,]] the entire fabric of reality and the space time continuim is in a constant flux, who knows when their reality will be shattered completely?

[[AC:FridgeLogic]]* In "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" how come no one mistakes Homer for Mr. Sparkle when the family's in Japan? Comic Book Guy's wife Kumiko in "Married to the Blob" noticed the resemblance off the bat. * RuleOfFunny aside, why wouldn't Homer know his own middle name? Surely he'd have a birth certificate somewhere.** He's a fool, you can't expect him to remember his middle name or where he put his birth certificate to look it up.* Exactly how ''did'' Principal Skinner get Bart to come to the movies in "Grade School Confidential"? If he had thrown rocks at the window to get his attention, then surely he would have been more dressed (even though Seymour seems more of the type to ring the doorbell.) Plus, how willing was Bart to attend the movies with him? Skinner was more or less pushing him to watch with them. Given that, Bart's reluctance and sleepiness and the wonder of ''how'' Skinner got the boy out of his home in the middle of the night, then thinking about it too long might become FridgeHorror...** He could've told Marge and Homer that Bart got in trouble and had to help him out with a task, like when he made Bart learn astronomy in "Bart's Comet." Bart does get sent to his office later in the episode with a love note from Mrs. Krabappel, so it's not far fetched that was the case.** Be that as it may, why wasn't he wearing shoes?* In "Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment" why does Duff Beer go out of business due to prohibition in one town? Isn't the Duff Brewery in Capital City? Other episodes have shown that Duff is distributed in other areas around the world. * If Principal Skinner is really Arman Tanzarian, why does he show a family resemblance (in the face) to his mother?* If Flanders is a hardcore Christian, why is he shown celebrating Halloween in several episodes?** Halloween is 'All Hallow's Eve', the day before All Saints Day. It'd make sense for a hardcore Christian to be engaging in what has roots in Christian tradition. Plus, he's one of the nicest guys in Springfield, it isn't out of character for him to play the role of candy-charity for the sake of children.** Pre-Flanderized Flanders probably didn't think it was a huge deal and just harmless fun. Kind of like what [[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Hank Hill]] thinks Halloween is despite being so uptight all the time.!!The Video Games

[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]* It took me a while to realize why ''TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' has that name. Then, while sitting around doing something completely unrelated to TheSimpsons, I realized the reason. It's a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' clone, so they named it after a different vehicular crime.* In [[VideoGame/TheSimpsons the arcade game]], ever notice how Marge is player 1 while Homer is player 2? This actually reflects her position as the one who wears the pants in the family. As for Bart and Lisa, Bart is probably player 3 simply because he's older than Lisa (player 4).